The numbers were boosted by strong sales over the holiday weekend, with 500,000 Wii systems sold on Black Friday. Sales of 3DS were also strong, up 325% since the first week of November. This is largely thanks to sales of Super Mario 3D Land, which has sold 500,000 copies since launch, becoming the fastest-selling portable Mario title ever.

"What this has been able to do is drive our Nintendo 3DS business in only eight months to surpass the full first year volume of the original DS and we still have the bulk of the holiday to go," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told USA Today.

The 3DS has sold 1.65 million units in the United States thus far. Fils-Aime added that Mario Kart 7, which releases on December 4th, is also expected to "continue driving our full-year sales" of the system.